Cancer in its various forms is a leading cause of death worldwide. Detection and treatment of cancer have become a highly significant burden on health care resources. As a result, research into the early detection, treatment, cure, and prevention of cancer remain high priorities in both the public and private sectors of the health care system.
Because breast cancer is a common form of cancer affecting women worldwide and remains a leading cause of death among women. In the ongoing race to present or cure breast cancer, early detection currently provides the foundation for the widest variety of successful treatment as measured by post-treatment survival rates.
The basic steps of early detection of breast cancer are well established and educational programs have improved individual practice and effectiveness. For breast cancer, early detection starts with regular, systematic self-examination to detect lumps or other abnormalities. Regular examinations by a qualified physician to detect lumps and abnormalities are the next step. Both examinations are useful and should not be abandoned, but they are limited by the experience and skill of the individual and generally family to detect small tumors or masses that generally are most responsive to treatment.
Mammography represents a significant step in identifying the presence of tumors; however, this x-ray technology is far from fail-safe in detection of tumors for a variety of reasons, including differences in patients, skill levels of technicians, and differences in interpretation of the mammogram. The low specificity of x-ray mammography suggests that many women without cancer will receive recommendations to undergo a breast biopsy. This results in up to 4-5 benign biopsy results for everyone one cancer that is detected. In addition the minimum frequency for mammography has not been clearly established, and unfortunately, the technology is not always readily available to women. Also, seemingly too many women do not avail themselves of mammography examinations, due in part to concerns about exposure to radiation and to physical discomfort. This may be largely an educational issue.
A variety of evolving technologies has been applied to the early detection of breast cancer. Technologies include the use of ultrasound to compliment mammography. CT scan technology has not been demonstrated to be markedly useful in early detection of malignant tumors. Similarly, MRI technology has not proved to be uniquely useful in early detection.
Biopsy is effective, but in addition to expenses, it is an invasive procedure with all of the inherent risks of any comparable surgical procedure. Most frequently, surgical techniques are used to follow-up questionable or medically suspicious findings based on other techniques.
Therefore, there remains room for improvement in early detection of breast cancer and other tumors, in which the detection is non-invasive and accurately identifies and locates small tumors or other abnormal growths that may not otherwise be detected using current technology.